Bucks and Montgomery Counties are full of history, and one can find a rich mix of architecture in their streetscapes and housing stock. The various home and building styles create a footprint of the communities’ growth and development through time. Beyond being beloved landmarks, historic buildings create a living timeline. In a recent Heritage Conservancy […]
Pawpaw: A Big Fruit in Need of Bigger Love
If you’ve never heard of the fruit and tree known as Pawpaw, you’re not alone, and if you have heard of it, chances are you’re a big fan. As the largest edible fruit native to North America, the Pawpaw has a lot to offer, but it has largely gone under-appreciated in recent years. Small Tree, […]
Deer damage to the forest: How white-tail deer endanger our woodlands
The white-tail deer is cute, yes. Over the past decade, many of us have enjoyed increased backyard visitation and photo ops from an expanding deer population. We may also have cursed them for the scat they leave behind and for the way they shamelessly devour our gardens and landscaping. The unluckiest of us may have […]
Fall Fungus Fun: The Mushrooms of Autumn
The landscape is transforming, as it always does this time of year. Vegetation becomes more nuanced, more colorful, and gradually returns to the earth. Within these new blankets of leaf litter, you’ll find a variety of interesting organisms, including amphibians, invertebrates, and perhaps most notably, mushrooms. For National Mushroom Day this past Sunday, Luke Smithson, […]
Volunteer Appreciation Celebration
We gathered together at Aldie Mansion to celebrate our volunteers during our September 13th Volunteer Appreciation Celebration. “Our volunteers are the backbone of our work and help us provide for the community,” says Development Associate Melissa Lee. “We wanted to celebrate them and all they do for us!” We enjoyed delicious local food, drinks, and […]
Autumn’s Very Own: Meet the Witch Hazel
The basic strategy for plant life in temperate climates is to maximize above-ground activity during the spring and summer months when warmth, water, and light are plentiful. Yet there is one species of shrub common in Pennsylvania that deviates from that strategy in a major way. Now that it’s October, it feels appropriate to highlight […]
A wonderful ‘full circle’ feeling: A new land conservation easement preserves over 55 acres in Upper Bucks County
This month Heritage Conservancy has completed the preservation of a 55.6 acre property in Richland Township in Upper Bucks County. The Corn Property is adjacent to Heritage Conservancy’s 70-acre Quakertown Swamp Preserve, which is a DCNR-designated Native Plant Sanctuary. With its rare and endangered plant species, this property adds to the sanctuary. It also provides […]
Heritage Conservancy installs a Motus wildlife tracking tower in Lower Bucks County
At the very end of August, Heritage Conservancy completed installation of a new Motus wildlife tracking station atop Keystone Elementary School, next to its Croydon Woods Nature Preserve in Croydon. The project will provide the global science community with critical information on local wildlife migration. “We are feeding data to scientists around the world,” says […]
Chimney Swifts: A Species in Decline
A chimney swift darts over a pond in Prospect Park in NYC. Photo by Ryan Mandelbaum. Introduction The US Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) published its State of the Birds 2022 report last fall. Among its key findings is a list of birds whose populations have fallen by half between 1970–2019, […]
BioBlitz Results Released in New Documentary
Photo by Kara Foran. This past spring, Heritage Conservancy hosted a BioBlitz event at our Croydon Woods Nature Preserve. This 24-hour biological survey was a huge success as staff, biologists, and community scientists identified hundreds of species that utilize the preserve. To conduct the surveys, professionals and community scientists used multiple traps and visual encounter […]